The present invention relates to a multi-disk player system, and more particularly to a multi-disk player capable of containing a plurality of disks and successively selecting any one of the disks and continuously playing them back.
There is known a jukebox used as a multi-disk player system that is capable of accommodating a plurality of disks and which enables continuous playing of music on a series of randomly selected disks. The jukebox may be regarded as a common type of multi-disk player, but the conventional jukebox is contained within a very large cabinet and is not suitable for use at home.
With the recent advance in digital recording technology, several types of digital audio disks (hereinafter abbreviated as DAD) have been developed and are in extensive use. Compared with the conventional analog audio disks, DADs feature an increased information capacity and a reduced noise problem during reproduction. Small-sized DADs (o.d. of about 12 cm) are commonly referred to as compact disks which are adapted to have signals written and read thereon by a laser beam; compact disks are simple to use and enable reduction in the overall size of the disk player. Making use of these features of small-sized DADs, audio makers have recently developed a multi-disk player which is ideal as a home jukebox and which is capable of continuous playing of a plurality of (typically 5 or 6) compact disks It is worth noting that a single compact disk can play approximately one hour, which is equivalent to about 1.5 times the information capacity of the conventional analog audio disk. This means that 6 compact disks have a capacity of about 120 pieces of music assuming that each piece continues for a period of 3 minutes on average, and as a result, the listener can make his own music library containing favorite pieces in magazines classified by genre such as jazz, chanson or classics
A multidisk player basically comprises a playback means including a turntable and a pickup, a disk holder for holding disks and for being inserted and fitted in a loading means within a player housing, and a disk-unloading/conveying mechanism for conveying a disk loaded on the disk holder to a playback position, i.e., onto the turntable.
When a disk is conveyed onto the turntable in the disk holder in such a multidisk player, the disk is normally moved in two directions parallel and roughly perpendicular to the disk-holding face of the turntable. In the multidisk player already developed, however, the above disk-unloading/conveying mechanism for the disk conveyance is so operated as to directly hold the disk end at the disk-ejecting side or hold the whole body thereof and eject it from the disk holder. Since the disk-unloading/conveying mechanism, to say nothing of the disk-holding mechanism, is not only complicated but also large in size and further requires a large space for operation, it has been difficult to make compact the player as a whole and to prevent or increase in cost.
In a multidisk player newly developed to solve the above problems disclosed by Japanese Patent Application No. 104303/85 (not prior art within a meaning of 35 USC 102), the disk holder includes a housing and a plurality of plate-shaped trays, each being capable of holding the disk on its principal face and of being ejected from or retracted in the housing along the principal face. In other words, by simply ejecting each plate-like tray loaded with the disk from the housing, the disk is conveyed in one direction (parallel to the disk-holding face of the turntable). Accordingly, this multidisk player is simpler in construction than what is equipped with the disk-unloading/conveying mechanism for directly ejecting the disk out of the disk holder by holding the end of the disk in the disk-ejecting direction or the whole body thereof with the complicated mechanism so that the described type of multi-disk player can readily be made compact and less costly.
The disk-unloading/conveying mechanism for bidirectionally conveying the disk includes a tray ejector for ejecting the tray loaded with a disk for being played back from the housing of the disk holder and a disk shifter for shifting the disk loaded on the tray ejected out of the housing in the direction roughly perpendicular to the disk-holding face of the turntable. The disk shifter comprises a press member for clamping a disk in cooperation with the turntable by abutting against the face of the disk ejected out of the housing together with tray by the tray ejector (the face of the clamped disk being opposite to what faces the turntable), a support installed movably within a plane roughly perpendicular to the disk-holding face of the turntable and used to rotatably support the press member, and a driving force application means for driving the support. In other words, the disk shifter means is simultaneously used as a clamp mechanism for shifting the disk in the direction roughly perpendicular to the disk-holding face of the turntable, whereby the disk is lifted by the press member and the support before the disk is shifted.
The multidisk player already developed is roughly thus constructed. However, the disk is unstably shifted by the clamp mechanism and, when certain external force is applied to the disk being shifted, the disk may shift in the radial direction, thus causing a so-called miss clamp.